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Author Profile

Burck Smith

Burck Smith is the CEO and founder of StraighterLine. Before launching StraighterLine, he was the founder and CEO of SMARTHINKING, the dominant online tutoring provider for schools and colleges. Burck has worked as an independent consultant with such clients as the Gates Foundation, Microsoft, Computer Curriculum Corporation, the CEO Forum on Education and Technology, the Milken Exchange on Education and Technology, Teaching Matters Inc., Converge Magazine, and others. He has written chapters for two books on education policy for the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and is a member of the AEI’s Higher Education Working Group. As a writer about education and technology issues, Burck has been published by Wired Magazine, Wired News, Converge Magazine, University Business and the National School Boards Association. He holds a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and a B.A. from Williams College.

Articles by Burck Smith


Maximum Education or Maximum Revenue?

Jun 20, 2012 · Burck Smith · Comments Off on Maximum Education or Maximum Revenue?

College officials may favor their own online courses over less costly ones offered by others.


Disrupting College? Lessons from iTunes

Mar 22, 2011 · Burck Smith · Comments Off on Disrupting College? Lessons from iTunes

So far, online education has failed to transform higher education. An entrepreneur explains why.

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    Students around the country pay top dollar and take on mountains of debt to earn a degree. They hope doing so will pay dividends in the future. But some colleges … Continue reading “The Department of Education’s “Secret Shoppers””

  • Let’s Improve Student Engagement May 18, 2023

    Undergraduate student engagement is on the decline. That’s according to the publishing and research firm Wiley, which, in February, released a “State of the Student” survey indicating that student engagement … Continue reading “Let’s Improve Student Engagement”

  • Reading the N.C. Higher-Ed Budget May 1, 2023

    On April 3, the North Carolina House approved a proposed biennial budget, House Bill 259, which the Senate is now considering. The plan provides generous raises for state employees while … Continue reading “Reading the N.C. Higher-Ed Budget”

More in Innovation

  • A Devastating Exposé of America’s Colleges Jun 2, 2023

    It has become so generally known that the Left has infiltrated our colleges and universities that people seldom bother to produce the evidence of it. Without evidence, many who would … Continue reading “A Devastating Exposé of America’s Colleges”

  • The State of AI-Chatbot Detection Jun 1, 2023

    On April 4 of this year, the academic-services firm Turnitin activated a software designed to catch a certain kind of student plagiarist. As has been widely discussed on the Martin … Continue reading “The State of AI-Chatbot Detection”

  • The Strange World of “Citational Justice” May 31, 2023

    The latest fresh hell is citational justice. Which is quotas for footnotes. Now we’re supposed to track the group identity of the authors we cite and make sure there are … Continue reading “The Strange World of “Citational Justice””

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Recent Articles

  • A Devastating Exposé of America’s Colleges Jun 2, 2023

    It has become so generally known that the Left has infiltrated our colleges and universities that people seldom bother to produce the evidence of it. Without evidence, many who would … Continue reading “A Devastating Exposé of America’s Colleges”

  • The State of AI-Chatbot Detection Jun 1, 2023

    On April 4 of this year, the academic-services firm Turnitin activated a software designed to catch a certain kind of student plagiarist. As has been widely discussed on the Martin … Continue reading “The State of AI-Chatbot Detection”

  • The Strange World of “Citational Justice” May 31, 2023

    The latest fresh hell is citational justice. Which is quotas for footnotes. Now we’re supposed to track the group identity of the authors we cite and make sure there are … Continue reading “The Strange World of “Citational Justice””

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